Wandering DMs

Anachronisms in D&D | Where Fantasy Meets History | Wandering DMs S06 E04


Listen Later

The Wandering DMs dig into the concept of anachronisms in D&D settings. They will explore the historic roots of D&D campaign settings, and where modern objects, events, or ideas have leaked in. Does the existence of anachronism break immersion, or is the very nature of the fantasy genre open to all forms of content? Where and how do we draw the line?

An anachronism is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type of anachronism is an object misplaced in time, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a plant or animal, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period that is placed outside its proper temporal domain.

Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. The fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements. A science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seemingly possible through logical scientific or technological extrapolation, where fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. Authors have to rely on the readers' suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment, in order to write effective fantasies.

This description uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Fantasy literature" and "Anachronism", which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Wandering DMsBy Wandering DMs

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

6 ratings


More shows like Wandering DMs

View all
Mastering Dungeons by Mastering Dungeons

Mastering Dungeons

167 Listeners

The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish by mike@slyflourish.com

The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish

176 Listeners

Fear of a Black Dragon by Jason Cordova

Fear of a Black Dragon

118 Listeners

Monster Man by James Holloway

Monster Man

72 Listeners

Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk by EN Publishing

Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk

29 Listeners

The Vintage RPG Podcast by Vintage RPG

The Vintage RPG Podcast

238 Listeners

Quillette Podcast by Quillette

Quillette Podcast

802 Listeners

Down in a Heap by Rob c

Down in a Heap

12 Listeners

The Eldritch Lorecast by Ghostfire Gaming

The Eldritch Lorecast

43 Listeners

The Splatbook by John Corey, Ben Donaldson, Jess Rhiannon

The Splatbook

36 Listeners

Between Two Cairns by Yochai Gal & Brad Kerr

Between Two Cairns

80 Listeners

Monsters and Treasure by Monsters and Treasure

Monsters and Treasure

25 Listeners